Cedars grant to The L.A. Trust will grow healthcare access and advocacy

Cedars-Sinai is growing its community outreach with a new grant to The L.A. Trust. Photo courtesy Cedars-Sinai.  

Cedars-Sinai has awarded $800,000 to The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health to expand advocacy, equity and effectiveness of school-based healthcare in Los Angeles County.

The goals of the two-year initiative include expanding student agency and healthcare access and increasing visits at 19 L.A. Unified Wellness Centers in high-need neighborhoods.  

 “This grant is a game changer,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust. “It will enable us and our partners to make long-needed improvements in school-based healthcare and prevention programs and support our students and communities as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and address the ongoing effects of systemic racism.”  

“Cedars-Sinai recognizes the significance of The L.A. Trust’s approach to ensuring access to care,” said Jonathan Schreiber, vice president of Community Engagement. “We are proud to support The L.A. Trust in the launch of this timely effort to meet the increased wellness needs of students in our communities.” 

The Cedars-Sinai grant will fund a School Health and Wellness Initiative that will develop best practices, expand student engagement and foster research and innovation:

Policy Roundtable 

The initiative will help re-establish The L.A. Trust Student Health Policy Roundtable and develop it into a robust cohort of Los Angeles-based partners that will advocate for funding and policies that improve the well-being of Los Angeles County public school students. The roundtable will address pressing student health concerns, including anti-racism priorities.  

Student engagement

The grant will also help The L.A. Trust expand student engagement by adding Student Advisory Boards at new or recently established Wellness Centers on Los Angeles Unified campuses. Student engagement is a key driver of campus change, enlisting hundreds of students each year to develop health campaigns that reach tens of thousands of students. Student Advisory Board members will also be consulted by the Policy Roundtable for input and participation.  

Research and resources

The initiative will also help increase access and improve services across the Wellness Network. This will be accomplished through The L.A. Trust Data xChange, a first-in-the-nation initiative that links student health metrics with academic and attendance data to identify concerns and find solutions. Other research and best practices funded by the Cedar-Sinai grant will include a verified school-health integration measurement tool, community events such as clinic open houses, and The L.A. Trust’s long-running Wellness Network Learning Collaboratives.   

“Cedars-Sinai is a generous and forward-thinking community partner,” said Anna Baum, director of development and communications for The L.A. Trust. “They are deeply concerned about student and community health, and their expertise and funding have supported our work in mental health, oral health and prevention education for five years,” Baum said. “We are grateful for their partnership and for making this important new initiative possible.”   

Student advocates explore teen health at Y2Y Summit

The L.A. Trust Y2Y Summit on April 1 featured frank talk, strong engagement and a Millennium theme.

Honest discussions and strong engagement were the order of the day as more than 80 students and their supporters met April 1 at The L.A. Trust Youth to Youth Student Health Summit online. 

Student health advocates from seven Student Advisory Boards, LAUSD Student Health and Human Services, L.A. County Department of Public Health, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Black Women for Wellness attended the conference. The event was sponsored by Cedars-Sinai, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Essential Access Health, Health Net and Joe Sanberg, co-founder of Aspiration. 

The half-day learning event included entertainment, activities and six workshops on student health issues, including HPV and other STDs, substance use, daily challenges and safer sex.

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust, welcomed the participants. “I am so proud of the work you are doing. You are positive change agents — you are going down in history for improving your schools and communities.” 

The Y2Y Summit was facilitated by The L.A. Trust’s student engagement team, including Robert Renteria, Rosario Rico, Mackenzie Scott and Dannielle Griffin. “Engagement was very high, especially for a virtual event,” Renteria said. “Students came prepared to share, learn and support each other, and they returned a lot of great feedback after the event.” 

No perfect path 

Irma Rosa Viera, a CalState Northridge Student and former SAB member from Elizabeth Learning Center, previewed “Life After High School.” Viera talked about her post-high school experiences and said, “Don’t fear not knowing what your career will be – I thought I was going to be an interpreter and switched to child development counselor.” She added, “There may be downs but finding the silver lining is going to be awesome.”  

Rico said there “is no perfect path” and pointed out that there are alternatives to four-year college, including entrepreneurship, vocational training and military service, which provides funds for college. When quizzed about their career interests, students cited healthcare, business, entrepreneurship, computers, mechanics and engineering as top possibilities.  

Other breakout workshops included Know Your HPV Facts, The Highs and Lows of Substance Use, The ABCs of STDs, Daily Challenges, and Sexual Health and Safe(r) Sex.

Coping with COVID 

L.A. Unified SHHS Organization Facilitator Victor Luna led a panel discussion by the L.A. Department of Public Health (DPH) COVID Youth Advisory Board that featured Evan Bowman, junior at Archer School for Girls; Gisselle Gonzalez, Stanford University freshman; Osiris Lamon, Paraclete High School junior; and Morgan McIntosh, Marymount High School junior.  

Luna asked the youth advisors how they had been coping with COVID. Lamon, a DPH youth advisor, cited talking with friends, spending time with family and friends, and giving back. Other student quarantine recommendations included exercise, studying, painting, anime and “lots of movies.” 

Y2Y meets Y2K

Zoom backgrounds and The L.A. Trust’s in-house DJ — Program Manager Nina Nguyen — set a Millennial mood with graphics and music matching the event’s theme, “Y2Y Meets Y2K.” GrubHub coupons were sent to students so they could enjoy the event’s traditional lunch. 

A social media contest garnered nearly 100 new posts and followers on Instagram. Brayam of Jordan High won the contest and a Nintendo Switch Lite portable game console.   

Nearly 90% of attendees surveyed said attending the Summit was worth their time; 93% said they would recommend the event to a friend. Kristie Garrison, LAUSD Healthy Start Coordinator and an Adult Ally of the Carson High SAB, praised the event and its student participants. 

A Belmont High student said, “It was my first Y2Y — awesome presentations and great to see other youth leaders!” Taaliyah, a student from Washington Prep, said the Summit reached her mind and heart because it addressed mental health and relationships. Isaac from Manual Arts High School said, “I learned new things — things I can call out and use.”

COVID testing key to L.A. Unified’s return-to-school strategy

L.A. Unified return-to-school plan encompasses testing and tracing for nearly 800,000 students and employees.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has begun an unprecedented coronavirus testing program, part of its developing return-to-school plan for nearly 800,000 students and employees 

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said, “Health practices are in place. Classrooms and facilities have been electrostatically cleaned top to bottom, air-conditioning systems have been upgraded with the equivalent of N-95 filters, personal protective equipment is provided to all individuals on campus, and classrooms and facilities have been reconfigured to keep all at a school a safer distance apart.  

“When students do return to schools, they’ll be kept in small cohorts to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. And as we learn of other ways to enhance health practices, we’ll incorporate them as quickly as possible.”

‘Taking the lead’ 

“Once again, LAUSD is taking the lead nationwide in protecting our students, teachers, staff and community members,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health. “It is essential that we open our schools as soon as it is safe to do so.” 

Beutner added, “While unprecedented, the virus testing, community engagement and contact-tracing program is necessary and appropriate as we must do everything we can to protect the health and safety of all in the school community.”  

Among those collaborating on the program are UCLA, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Health Net.

Student mental health challenged by COVID, recession and racism

Idle busses and empty classrooms are reminders of the scale of the education and healthcare void caused by the continued coronavirus shutdown.

Student mental health in Los Angeles is facing unprecedented challenges, according to Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health.

“Our students are under tremendous pressure,” she said. “Many were already dealing with inadequate access to mental healthcare and the impacts of poverty and racism. The isolation and economic hardships brought on by COVID-19 threaten to create a student mental health crisis in Los Angeles.

“Students miss the structure of school, their friends and their support system, including access to counseling and mental health treatment,” said Puffer. “Some students may be in stressful situations at home or even the targets of abuse. We must redouble our efforts to help them.”

New initiative

This fall The L.A. Trust will launch its Student Mental Health Initiative. The collaborative is funded by a $100,000 grant by Cedars-Sinai and a $50,000 grant by Health Net.

The initiative will train students as peer leaders through The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards, increasing awareness of symptoms like anxiety and depression, and building positive coping mechanisms and self-referrals to care. The initiative will foster student social media campaigns and conduct online trainings such as “First Aid for Mental Health,” scheduled for August.

“Student voices are critical in addressing mental health awareness and to ensure access to services,” said Pia V. Escudero, executive director of  Student Health & Human Services for Los Angeles Unified. “We are grateful for this grant opportunity that will lift stigma and access to services for students and families that need it the most.”

Puffer added that “as a backbone agency for student health in Los Angeles, The L.A. Trust has a unique role and responsibility. We are committed to lead on this issue, helping support students, family members, healthcare providers and LAUSD tackle these issues.”

Racism and mental health

Puffer noted that July is BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month and that racism must be factored into any discussion of student mental health. This is especially relevant in Los Angeles, where four out of every five LAUSD students is Latinx or Black.

A review of literature on the impact of racism on child health found that 11 out of 12 studies showed an association between racism and depression, while three studies showed an association between racism and anxiety. “We can’t ignore the impact of racism on the mental health of our students,” Puffer said. “Our programs, outreach and training must acknowledge the racism that many of our students live with every day.”

Resources available

Puffer saluted LAUSD Student Health and Human Services, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and other public and private organizations for adapting and expanding to serve students and family members during the COVID-19 crisis.

LAUSD Mental Health Hotline (213) 241-3840. Open weekdays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is staffed by counselors and mental health professionals who can provide support in English and Spanish. Teachers can also call and get advice on how to connect their students to services. Questions can also be emailed to mentalhealth@lausd.net.

Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (800) 854-7771. Open 24/7 for all mental health services.

2-1-1 Hotline. The central source for all health and human services support in Los Angeles County.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline English: (800) 273-8255 Español: (888) 628-9454.

Teen Line Text “TEEN” to 839863 between 6:00pm-9:00pm PT to speak to a teen.

Posted July 15, 2020 at 9:55 a.m.

Eight major grants will power The L.A. Trust’s mission

New grants will fuel objectives of The L.A. Trust, including youth engagement. Participants in this year’s Youth to Youth Summit shown above. 

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is pleased to announce a series of grants that will help the organization meet its mission in the coming month and years. “During this global health crisis, the world needs these givers more than ever,” said Anna Baum, director of development and communications for The L.A. Trust. “We’re grateful they have placed their trust in us.” 

Baum reported:

The Weingart Foundation is supporting our mission with a $125,000 unrestricted operating support grant which we plan to use to support organizational planning and staff development as well as the Data xChange. We’re very pleased to partner with this foundation for the first time, which has helped nonprofits reach underserved communities for over 50 years.  

We’re very happy to announce another first-time partnership, with UniHealth Foundation to further work on our groundbreaking Data xChange.  UniHealth has been supporting nonprofit, community-based hospitals and health organizations for over 20 years. This two-year, $200,000 grant will allow us to continue integrating Wellness Network health services data with LAUSD academic data. 

Two major forces in the Los Angeles area healthcare arena have stepped up to provide relief to teens through a new initiative to be deployed next school year: The L.A. Trust’s School-Based Mental Health Education & Awareness Program. Health Net committed $50,000 and Cedars-Sinai $100,000 to this program, which is in the planning phase. By building capacity among students as peer leaders through our Student Advisory Boards, the program seeks to increase awareness of symptoms like anxiety and depression, and to increase positive coping mechanisms as well as self-referrals to care. The mental health crisis among our underserved youth can only be addressed through the prescience and generosity of funders like Cedars-Sinai and Health Net.  

The Annenberg Foundation has made an unrestricted operating support grant to further our mission to improve student health and increase readiness to learn.  We’re very pleased to be partnering with Annenberg, which has demonstrated its commitment to education and well-being for over 30 years. 

Last fall The Ahmanson Foundation awarded us a grant for furnishings and computers at Roybal Learning Center where over half the staff is located. This has already proved extremely helpful as we transition to remote work plans, and will be even more so when we reconvene on campus. 

Two recent grants have buoyed our activities: Insperity, our human resources services company, awarded a grant to support our Student Advisory Boards. The California Credit Union awarded a grant that will helps us upgrade and maintain key technical platforms like QuickBooks. These timely grants will support our student outreach during the current LAUSD closures, as well as into the coming school year.  

In addition to awarding these generous grants, all the funders acknowledged here have announced flexibility in regard to dates and fund restrictions in light of the COVID-19 environment. We applaud the efforts of our funders and express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who make these grants possible, Baum said. 

Tooth Fairy Event will star oral health heroes Saturday, Feb. 22

The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event will feature fun, prizes, free dental screenings and information about oral health.

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is joining forces with the UCLA-led consortium More LA Smiles and other dental health heroes to present its biggest oral health event ever—The L.A. Trust’s fifth annual Tooth Fairy Event, Saturday, February 22 at Dodger Stadium from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The event is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s annual Health and Wellness Festival & 5K, expected to attract more than 5,000 students and community members. The event is free and open to all (pre-registration is required for LAUSD 5K participants).

The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event will feature fun, prizes, free dental screenings and information booths hosted by L.A.’s leading oral healthcare organizations. In partnership with Sesame Street in Communities, the event will also include a special appearance by Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.

The LAUSD Health and Wellness Festival will include live entertainment, food trucks, fitness and dance classes, celebrity appearances, free stadium parking, and an interactive Kids Zone.

Running partners

In addition to the title sponsor—the UCLA-led consortium More LA Smiles—the Tooth Fairy event is supported by silver sponsors Big Smiles Dental, Delta Dental, Liberty Dental Plan Companies and the office of L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. 

Also sponsoring the event are Access Dental, America’s ToothFairy (NCOHF), Cedars-Sinai COACH for Kids Dental, East West Bank and Patterson Dental.

“The L.A. Trust is honored to be part of this amazing community event once again, and I want to thank Los Angeles Unified for inviting us,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust and L.A.’s unofficial Tooth Fairy. “February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, and it’s a good time to remember how important oral health is to our young people.”  

Puffer thanked “the healthcare companies and nonprofit organizations who’ve joined with us to stage this unique celebration of oral health. The care and education we give our young people today will pay dividends for a lifetime.”

The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event will help kids brush up on oral health

Who flosses after every meal? The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event will advance oral health Saturday, February 22 at Dodger Stadium.

Students and their families will join oral health providers and Los Angeles Tooth Fairy Maryjane Puffer at The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event, Saturday, February 22 at Dodger Stadium from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The fifth annual event is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s annual “Move It!” Health and Wellness Festival and 5K, attracting more than 5,000 kids and family members. 

In addition to the 5K walk/run course, the Festival will include live entertainment, food trucks, fitness and dance classes, celebrity appearances, free stadium parking, booths from health providers and an interactive Kids Zone featuring games, face painting, an obstacle course, sports clinics and more. 

The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event will be a key component of this high-profile community event, featuring free dental screenings, prizes and giveaways, photo opps and character appearances by Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and others.

It’s fun-ucational

The Tooth Fairy Event will spotlight oral health information and booths hosted by L.A.’s leading oral healthcare organizations, including the Title Sponsor, UCLA-led consortium More LA Smiles. Other event sponsors include Big Smiles Dental, Liberty Dental Plan, the office of L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, America’s Toothfairy, Cedars-Sinai, East West Bank, Patterson Dental and Premier Access Dental.

Sponsorship opportunities for The L.A. Tooth Fairy Event are still available; please contact Anna Baum of The L.A. Trust by Friday, January 31.  

Registration is not required for the Festival—pre-registration is required for entering the race.

“February is National Children’s Dental Health Month,” said Maryjane Puffer, L.A.’s top Tooth Fairy and executive director of The L.A. Trust. “There’s no better time — and no better place — to promote the lifelong benefits of good oral health to children, adults, and caregivers than The L.A. Trust Tooth Fairy Event!”

“We have a lot of fun surprises planned for this year’s event,” said Stella Kim, associate program director at The L.A. Trust. “Program Manager Esther Yepez and I will be on hand with every member of The L.A. Trust staff to ensure everyone has a great time and learns more about oral health.”

Eight new grants will drive The L.A. Trust mission

The Los Angeles Trust is proud to announce eight new grants from partners who understand the critical health-related needs and issues facing students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Several of these partners came forward earlier in this school year to lend support to our mission.

Long-time partner Kaiser Permanente awarded a $500,000 grant over two years to fund three initiatives: Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL); our Oral Health Initiative; and the groundbreaking Data xChange.  HEAL is Kaiser Permanente’s multi-faceted, integrated strategy to achieve long-term sustainable reductions in obesity and related chronic illnesses; funds for the Oral Health Initiative will support education and dental screening for kindergarteners as well as parent and caregiver education; and the Data xChange funding will make it possible for us to integrate academic data with Wellness Center health data.  Kaiser Permanente’s beneficent support continues to be a mainstay of our work.

Another exciting development is the continuation of work on SBIRT coordination (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) at five Wellness Centers.  This is an impactful four-year grant from the California Community Foundation to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, with which we partner to increase screenings and improve data collection. With the legalization of cannabis, and with vaping and drug use on the rise in our schools, this work is more important than ever.

DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement (DentaQuest Partnership) has remained a major supporter this year, with three generous grants to support improvement of oral healthcare delivery in Los Angeles and beyond.  We received $125,800 for the Oral Health Initiative to increase our oral health policy advocacy, the oral health build-out of the Data xChange, and to increase student participation at the elementary school dental screenings we facilitate.  In addition, we received $111,226 to support our participation in DentaQuest Partnership’s Oral Health Progress and Equity Network, where our staff serves as a key connector for the growing national network’s infrastructure; and $12,900 for Executive Director Maryjane Puffer to participate in the Regional Oral Health Connection Team.  We’re thrilled to continue the groundbreaking work that DentaQuest Partnership has championed for many years, addressing the pervasive but entirely preventable chronic disease of tooth decay among children in the U.S.

Cedars-Sinai is also supporting the Data xChange build-out with a $25,000 grant.  We’re very pleased to partner for the second time with Cedars-Sinai, which continues to be a champion for healthy communities.

We’re delighted to be working again with Fu*k Cancer through a $40,000 grant to raise awareness about cervical cancer prevention through HPV vaccination campaigns.  This year the program will be enhanced by increased work with the Student Advisory Boards as well as social media support provided by Fu*k Cancer.  The Data xChange will play a key role in tracking vaccination rates.

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation awarded The L.A. Trust a general operating capacity-building grant of $75,000.  This generous support will help us strengthen the organizational infrastructure as well as support youth development and the Data xChange.

The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation is another long-time supporter that recently granted The L.A. Trust general operating funds in the form of a $15,000 grant.